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From the editorial advisory board: Are you better off?

Posted:
10/20/2012 01:00:00 AM MDT

In October, 2007 , the stock market peaked above 14,000. By October of 2008, it was below 8,000. The market hit bottom at 6,547 on March 9, 2009. It closed at 13,557 on Thursday. Construction starts were up 15 percent last month. Corporate profits have been setting records. Ordinarily, such excess revenue would be reinvested -- more people would be hired and more equipment would be added or upgraded -- but companies are just sitting on their cash, afraid to invest even in themselves. When exactly is the "trickle down" going to happen?

It won't. It never has. Like water in Colorado, which flows towards money, money, itself, too often flows towards power and influence. The One-Percenter's do share, but they can't or won't give or buy enough to jumpstart our entire economy. Hoarded money has no multiplier effect. If money is, instead, earned by or rebated to the middle class and the working poor, it is quickly spent (usually locally), and it multiplies rapidly, effectively supporting overall economic growth. Money controlled by the wealthy few seeks higher returns wherever their financial advisors can find them (usually elsewhere).

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I've listened for differences, but it certainly appears to me that former Governor Romney's economic plan doubles down on the same fundamental policies that nearly cratered the global economy in the fall of 2008: reduce or eliminate banking regulations, cut taxes 20 percent, increase defense spending, cut safety net programs. Déj vu all over again. Caveat emptor!

Am I better off financially? No. My income is lower, while living expenses have increased.

I'm not alone. For each state, the Washington Post graphed trends of inflation-adjusted median household income between 2007 and 2011. During this time, Colorado's median household income decreased by 7.3 percent. Nationally, median household income dropped by 8.0 percent. And yes, the number of income earners per household was constant during this period, which the Post should have mentioned.

But those of us actually earning an income should be grateful to be employed. Last month's BLS "official" unemployment rate was 7.8 percent, same rate as in January 2009 when Obama took office. But this is misleading, as it does not include the unemployed who have given up looking for jobs. Including these people, the unemployment rate has yet to fall to the level it was at when Obama took office.

Given the decrease in income and employment rates, it's not surprising that Americans' net worth has also decreased since the financial crisis preceding the 2008 election. In June the Washington Post summarized a study by the Federal Reserve: "Median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in 1992. ... Over a span of three years, Americans watched progress that took almost a generation to accumulate evaporate."

The appropriate question is : "Whom would you trust to make things better for you in four years?"

That is what the current election is all about. Everything else is wasted hot air.

Four years ago, when Obama became president, he inherited a country facing an economic abyss, thousands of jobs lost, thousands losing their homes, and the American auto industry and banks near collapse. Logic should have discouraged anyone from running for president of such a mess.

The mess was a creation of a George W. Bush. A man who launched two wars and never arranged to pay for them. A man who made tax concessions for those who needed them least. No wonder one hardly hears or reads about him today.

But what about Romney, the "chameleon" candidate ? Here is a candidate who was proud as a peacock of the health care program he launched in Massachusetts, but now denies his paternity.

The only thing he hasn't reversed is his plan to lower taxes for the wealthy like himself.

That doesn't mean Obama should escape scrutiny. He admits failing to communicate his "achievements" of the last four years. Instead of spending his energy in a national health program, he should have perhaps spent it creating jobs. His lack of experience led him to wrongly assume that Republicans would cooperate with a self-proclaimed mediator, the first elected African-American president.

No, and not just for me, but also family and friends. Let's go back six years and remember what got us into this mess. In 2006, Republicans controlled the White House while Democrats controlled Congress. The Democrats initiated the unwise legislation that loosened borrowing qualifications, resulting in mortgage defaults. That, in turn, led to the housing crisis and slide into recession. Republican actions led to other damaging decisions.

It's erroneous to blame it all on Bush, and in fact, more honest to fault the Democrats' temptation of homebuyers and the complicit banks' greediness to take their money. The lesson we should have learned is that borrowing more than you can pay back leads to a sick economy. Stubbornly, Obama's continues to borrow and spend. Instead of stimulating business and job creation, he has dampened it.

As a result, I know many family members and friends who are unemployed or underemployed. Some have lost their homes. All are affected by rising gas and food prices. Those in their 20s and 30s fear that personal and governmental debt will prevent them from ever owning a home or being able to afford having children -- a worry that should concern all Americans as we need the next generation to pay for our Social Security, Medicare, and Chinese debts. Four more years of staying Obama's course will lead to disaster. The warning signs are blatant; our ship needs to turn -- and soon.

I voluntarily left the workforce 18 months ago to take some sabbatical time pursuing a variety of interests. I would never have been able to take this break if my investments were where they were four years ago when the Dow was at 9,265. The market indicator was heading toward its lowest since 1997, and it has more than doubled since the low point of 6,547 in early 2009. Like most engineers in their early 50s, my retirement savings are strictly in IRAs and 401Ks that I have to carefully manage, and a downturn like we had in 2008 can be devastating.

Of course, for most people the stock market isn't the primary measure of being "better off," and there are many other areas where many of us can feel better than we did four years ago.

Obama kept our tax burden low to help us weather the tough times. He pushed significant progress in equality for LGBT individuals and families, increasing federal recognition of our relationships. He helped deflect attacks on Medicare (especially targeting those of us under 55), and led the passing of landmark legislation on health care. Many economic indicators (including employment rates) are making slow but steady gains.

I hope we can continue making progress like this, and that Americans can regain some optimism that seems in such short supply of late.

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